Is The Party Over?

Garden Reports and Rejoicing – October 31

There was a first, hard frost last night and although the perennials still look pretty good the annuals are blackened, wilted and sad. I’m glad that I went out and picked dahlias, zinnias and peppers last night. The summer bloomer’s party is over, and it’s time to move everything indoors.

We’ll dig up cannas and dahlias in the next few days. Fortunately the weather forecast predicts sunny, mild days through the weekend. It’s a time of in-gathering, and I’m not just talking about plants.

The harvest season calls us to think about what we’ve planted in the past, and what we want to store/cultivate for the future. Since most of us are not, thankfully, focused on what we need to survive the winter, we can think about our broader goals and desires. There isn’t just on way to plant a garden, and there isn’t a single path to the harvest or through life in general

This is on my mind as I read that a facebook friend wonders about the “the mistake I (and others) have made is allowing an interest or hobby to become a business.” I’m thinking that the mistake isn’t, perhaps, in being willing to follow that interest by moving down that path, but in clinging to that route and thinking that it’s the only direction you can go.

If you grab onto something tightly, your hand is no longer open to receive.

There are times for acknowledging that there are many roads that can be traveled. There are seasons for evaluating what we’re harvesting and assessing if the returns are able to sustain us in all the ways we need to be nourished.

The party may or may not be over, and chances are that some parts of the celebration are ending at the same time that others are just starting to grow. In all cases, are definitely times for in-gathering. As we all look at what is we’ve grown and are able to harvest, as well as what could yet germinate, we need to remember not to clutch too tightly to what seems to be the only route. By keeping our hands and hearts open we might just discover that even as the annuals freeze and the balloons fall to the floor, the party is just beginning.

The house is adorned with annuals that were picked before the frost. Yes, what remained outside got zapped, but the inside is filled with fresh, colorful bouquets. So where should we focus? On what is gone, or how we've gained from what was previously planted?

2 comments to Is The Party Over?

The secret to being happy with whatever we choose to do, in work or play, is to continue to do it as long as it is meaningful to us to do so, because that meaning comes from inside ourselves. The meaning our activities hold for us will carry us through those times when the “harvest” is meager. But when our ‘meaning meter’ starts sliding backwards toward zero, it’s a signal to re-examine whether it’s time to move on to something else, or simply a bump in the road.